Love Demands.

Her voice still rings in my head,

''...and there is when love comes -
when it is
demanding.''

We tend to think
love is romantic.

It's soft, warm,
magical and beautiful.

That sounds like a fairy tale
and I must say Mother Teresa
brought reality back
by reminding us fairy tales are fairy tales -
they remain in storybooks, no further.

How true,
that love is demanding.

It's not easy to love.

A mother who loves her child
proves it with
perserverance through three trimesters
even if it involves swelling into a human balloon.

She goes through labour
and great pain.

In this love,
size doesn't matter.
The baby is king at all times.

His wails are capable of
setting off the entire household
on an amazing race
from sunrise to moonshine.
Mummy and daddy trundle up and down stairs,
floundering about the kitchen for milk
and diving for the diaper deck.

Parenthood is demanding.
I quiver as I type the sacrifice of motherhood
because I know it gets worse
when the child grows into a teenager,
and a potential torture.

*


Love cannot exist
without sacrifice.

It gives,
often with a heartache,
but with faith which
brings joy ultimately.

Love is not true
if it is not demanding.

It gives willingly,
even out of lack.

Love is not real
if it doesn't show up
in inconvenient times.

It is faithful.

Love will not give up
no matter how bleak
everything seems.

It perserveres,
even if it has to crawl.

Love doesn't pass unfair judgements
and reject others.

It creates opportunities
and
embraces.

Love doesn't boast.

It's actions speaks louder than words.

Love isn't haphazard.
It is not done in foolishness and stupidity;
in a moment of fun or thrill.

It is deliberate,
and in the light of wisdom and truth.

Love does not deceive.

It confronts,
even if it risks ruining the relationship.

Love is not competitive.
It does not covet and
grows jealous of others who do better.
It does not build on selfish ambitions.

It seeks to give
with the intention to
benefit the other.

It has the magnanimity
to rejoice with those who do better.

Love is not suspicious.

It looks beyond natural circumstances
and
chooses to
have faith and believe.

Love will not walk out on you,
when things don't go its way.

It is not proud,
but humble
and loyal.

Love is unconditional and permanent.

It stays with you
even when you're at your ugliest.

It grows old with you,
until forever.

*

If you want to receive love,
if you want to give love,

be prepared for the demands of it.

It's not about writing sweet letters and cards,
not about bloging
or telling your friends about it.

Only love that stays through
the burning demands

comes forth
as pure as gold.


*

We've heard a thousand sing songs of love,
declare dreams and promises.

But the true test of love
begins when it gets demanding -

does the person stay
or leave?

It will tell you
if his heart is true.

*